


Did Roy Kill Tuba? (No.)

by ArgentDandelion



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Analysis, Character Analysis, Cognitive Dissonance, Gen, Mentioned Grace Monroe, Meta, Morality, Nonfiction, Psychology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29711688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: Thesis: The way Roy defined teamwork and applied it to the party, alongside Simon’s friendly, cooperative behavior with Tuba, gave Simon cognitive dissonance between his beliefs and his recent actions. Unable to revise his beliefs and/or admit he was wrong to even the slightest degree, he resolved his cognitive dissonance by killing Tuba. If Roy wasn’t there, didn’t speak, had re-phrased his statements on teamwork, or simply got kicked by Simon, Simon killing Tuba would have been substantially delayed.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Introduction & Thesis**

In “The Color Clock Car”, it seemed Simon and Tuba were finally getting along, and it seemed Simon would revise his beliefs about Denizens (“Nulls”). However, when he and Tuba were separated from the others, rather than save her, Simon told Tuba she was “no person”, and killed her.

But why did this happen? Why did he outright kill Tuba, and not simply let the Train car take her far, far away, “ditching” her as suggested earlier?

It’s simple. Roy said too much and at the wrong time, invoking cognitive dissonance in Simon.

* * *

**Cognitive Dissonance**

Cognitive dissonance happens when people feel discomfort over holding contradictory beliefs, ideas or values. To deal with the discomfort, people do whatever they can to change their actions or ideas for consistency, leading to motivated reasoning and susceptibility to confirmation bias.

Due to confirmation bias, people are very likely to accept information that matches with their beliefs, but are likely to dismiss information that does not fit in their worldview and deem it biased or inaccurate. When people make a decision, cognitive dissonance leads to them justifying the choice made, and to dismiss the alternatives. Each further step makes it harder for people to admit they were wrong from the beginning, especially when the result is wrongheaded or harmful. The more costly a decision (e.g., by time and effort) and the more irrevocable its consequences, the greater the need to lessen cognitive dissonance and emphasize the good things about the decision. Indeed, when facts clash with convictions, some people would risk others’ health rather than accept new information or admit being wrong.

**Not Ripe for a Redemption Arc**

While it was possible Simon could have revised his beliefs by the end of “The Color Clock Car”, it was unlikely, because his Apex beliefs and connections, and his relationship with Grace, all met his psychological needs to make sense of the Train, have a purpose, and gain respect and a feeling of belonging. The idea of the Train existing for Passengers and the train being Passengers’ “right” makes them special, with in-group bonds, and while not all Apex members (or Grace) seem to have strongly negative opinions on Denizens, disliking the same people can quickly form strong bonds between others. In a way, Simon’s Apex beliefs and connection and relationship with Grace were psychological “load-bearing walls”. When Grace repeatedly disregards what he wants to do and is unexpectedly mad at him, and he faces challenges to his belief system, he doesn’t have any meaningful “backup relationships” or “backup beliefs”. Furthermore, Simon invested a lot—8 years of his life, in fact—into leading the Apex, which was founded on certain beliefs. Due to Simon's strong connection to the Apex and its beliefs, he would be more likely to distort or ignore anything that threatens his loyalties.

**Reasons Roy Ruined Things**

_(Simon's loving expression might seem promising, but it's too much, too fast.)_

In a way, Roy had accidentally pushed Simon too hard in the direction of a would-be redemption arc by challenging his beliefs too much, too obviously, and at the worst time.

Although Simon was emotionally vulnerable where Tuba could witness him in “Le Chat Chalet”, it was in “The Color Clock Car” that Simon’s relationship with Tuba had started to meaningfully change.

Before “The Color Clock Car”, Simon was almost always unfriendly or mocking in the rare events he spoke to a known denizen (one turtle Denizen in “The Theater Car” and M.T./Lake). Yet, in “The Color Clock Car” he had brief, friendly conversation with Tuba, laughed together with her, and even asked who Bugle (Tuba’s deceased daughter) was, and appeared friendly, even loving.

When Roy repeatedly emphasized the party was a “team” and “teamwork begins with two people trusting each other”, and thus inadvertently forced Simon to confront a dissonance between his actions and his beliefs, which was only worse by obvious instances of cooperative, friendly behavior in “The Color Clock Car”.

Since Tuba’s sheer strength made it impossible for Simon (and Grace) to force Tuba to help them, and thy needed Tuba’s help to solve the train puzzle, Simon could justify cooperating with her. Furthermore, the Apex does have room to keep around Denizens if they are “useful”; Simon even says “nulls are only as good as they are useful”. However, at the episode’s beginning, he told Grace Tuba was “more hindrance than help”: Simon delayed it only because Grace argued Tuba was too strong and they’d have the rest of the Apex to help soon enough. Once the color clock puzzle was solved, Simon would have to think about why they’re still keeping her around, when she was no longer useful, and when he and Grace had planned to ambiguously “ditch” or kill her earlier in the season and in that episode.

* * *

**Why Not “Ditch” Tuba?**

So why did Simon kill her when letting the train take her far away would have been just as easy, if not easier?

Perhaps the psychological weight of his aggressive actions and statements towards her, and other denizens, was simply greater than any positive actions towards her. As mentioned in the book Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me), aggression and hurtful acts leads to self-justification, which in turn lead to more aggression. People can come to hate others for no other reason than happening to treat them cruelly one time, and consequently justifying the treatment by making the hurt person look bad.

Perhaps he felt he had to prove to himself the strength of his beliefs; if he could manage to kill Tuba, it would prove to himself that he indeed believed Denizens were not people. Already, he had a habit of being especially brutal and direct in menacing Denizens; in “The Theater Car” he literally bashes a denizen’s lights out, and killing Denizens by throwing them to the wheels is apparently standard protocol in the Apex.

Perhaps Tuba showing off how she could blast apart a thick metal cage earlier in the episode re-emphasized how she was very strong, and therefore a physical threat. Indeed, when mentioning they couldn’t separate Hazel from Tuba in "The Jungle Car", Grace mentioned Tuba could “put up a serious fight”, and Grace even reminded Simon of Tuba’s strength earlier in “The Color Clock Car”. Supporting the idea the Apex prioritizes killing those considered a physical threat, only when Lake (then called “M.T.”) supposedly broke an Apex kid’s foot in “The Mall Car” does Simon propose wheeling her, although he was hostile to her beforehand.

Perhaps Simon, as some fans suggest, believed “numbers are power” and later become obsessed with getting a high number due to his insecurities: the higher his number, the more power and therefore control he obtains, and the less helpless and vulnerable he feels. If numbers are beautiful and special and indicate power and being “really good at the Train”, in 10-year-old Grace’s words, then killing Tuba would be a very good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The author loves comments. Please provide feedback here, or on the author's Tumblr or Pillowfort.


	2. Chapter 2

It’s possible he chose to kill Tuba because his growing relationship with Tuba brought up traumatic memories of The Cat abandoning him: the last time Simon trusted a denizen and needed their help, the denizen abandoned him to die, and he still distrusts The Cat. After all, Simon outright said The Cat was “his Tuba” in “Le Chat Chalet”. It’s possible Simon’s distrust for Denizens is not only over-extrapolation based on one con artist denizen, but a psychological reaction or tactic that will prevent him from getting hurt by denizens in a similar way again. Indeed, there are certain uncanny parallels between Simon and some sorts of young men having too many dates that didn't work out, who then give up on women entirely, potentially up to the point of denigrating or distrusting them as part of women-hating communities or cults.

Interestingly, after Simon kills Tuba and tells Hazel about it, he shows off his number and tells Grace: “Let's see how high our numbers got”, as if _her_ number would increase from he act. It is unlikely he would kill Tuba _purely_ to help Grace. Rather, it is more likely he would _want_ to kill Tuba due to the dissonance he felt, and would act upon that desire due to thinking Grace would be happy either from the killing itself or from the help in raising her number again.

**How to Deal with Roy**

Although Simon was the one who murdered Tuba, not Roy, Roy’s words were still important in tipping Simon over the edge to kill Tuba right then. Were it not for Roy’s actions, Simon killing Tuba would have been substantially delayed.

If one were writing a “fix-it-fic”, how would one deal with Roy?

**Solution 1: Roy Is Not There**

The easiest solution is simply to remove Roy from The Color Clock Car. It would probably take longer for everyone to figure out how to solve the puzzle, but, without the annoying, silly Roy there and saying rather inconvenient things, Simon would surely fit Tuba helping them into a more comfortable context. He did, after all, directly quote Roy in his rationalization of killing Tuba.

**Solution 2 and 3: Roy Doesn’t Talk/Roy Phrases Things Differently**

If Roy doesn’t talk, but only nods or points, he’ll have a lot of trouble expressing abstract concepts like “teamwork”, leaving room for Simon to interpret things.

If Roy said, “You have to use your unique abilities to get through!”, it is unlikely Simon would have killed Tuba after solving the car’s puzzle. Certainly, Simon can acknowledge Tuba has “unique abilities”, and perhaps can acknowledge that those abilities are _useful:_ In “The Mall Car” he said, “I thought we could at least get something from the deer [Alan Dracula, the deer of many powers].”

 **Solution 4** : **Kick Roy**

One tiny change to canon could still substantially delay Simon’s killing of Tuba: adjust the timing of the scan and ejection pulse after the puzzle is solved, so Simon can kick Roy. Kicking Roy would allow Simon to resolve the tension he feels by “shooting the messenger”, since people can dismiss information that doesn’t fit with their worldview as biased or inaccurate. Furthermore, by kicking Roy, he could reinforce the idea Roy spoke, in Grace’s words, "Grade A Denizen Garbage", and re-assert to himself that Nulls are bad, violence towards them is fine, and liars/untrustworthy/bad sources of information.

Kicking Roy would allow Simon entirely discard what Roy said about teamwork….at least, for the moment. Perhaps—with the addition of other tweaks to canon—he would go over Roy’s words again, at a better time for him, and re-evaluate his beliefs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The author loves comments. Please provide feedback here, or on the author's Tumblr or Pillowfort.


End file.
